开云体育SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON? Two Failures ? I passed by the field of a lazy man, and by the vineyard of a man devoid of understanding, and lo! It had become overgrown with thorns, briars had covered it over, and its stone fence had been destroyed. I perceived this and considered it well, I looked upon it and took from it a lesson (Mishlei 24:32-33). ? These verses describe two individuals who took divergent paths, both ending in failure. I passed by the field of a lazy man — a man whose laziness caused him to neglect the study of Torah, or to forget what he had already learned. The owner of the vineyard was a man devoid of understanding — a foolish man who did not take care to hold on to those mitzvos which he had accomplished through much time and effort. The first man, instead of planting seeds of spiritual attainment, allowed his field to become overgrown with thorns, the thorns of idle chatter and fruitless endeavors. As for the second man, the sacred words of Torah study and prayer which he had uttered with fervor and devotion, which could have ascended Heavenward as a song of praise to the One Above, had become unrecognizable — briars had covered it over — the briars of spiritual impurity wrought by evil speech. |
